144
EAKLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
was also most anxious to attract Raphael to his
court, and not succeeding, he desired to have a
picture by his hand, leaving him the choice of
subject. As Raphael had chosen St. George as
the fittest subject for the King of England, he now,
with equal propriety and taste, chose St. Michael,
the patron saint of the most celebrated military
order in France, as likely to be the most acceptable
subject for the French king, and represented the
archangel as victorious over the Spirit of Evil.
The figures are as large as life. St. Michael,
beaming with angelic beauty and. power, stands
with one foot on the Evil One, and raises his lance
to thrust him down to the deep. Satan is so repre-
sented that very little of his hideous and prostrate
form is visible, the grand victorious spirit filling
the whole canvas and the eye of the spectator.
The king expressed his satisfaction in a right royal
and graceful fashion, and rewarded the artist muni-
ficently. Raphael, considering himself overpaid,
and not to be outdone in generosity, sent to the
king his famous Holy Family (called The large
Holy Family, because the figures are life-size), in
which the infant Christ is seen in act to spring
from the cradle into his mother’s arms, while
angels scatter flowers from above. Engravings
and copies without number exist of this famous
picture : the original is in the gallery of the
Louvre. Raphael sent also his St. Margaret over-
EAKLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
was also most anxious to attract Raphael to his
court, and not succeeding, he desired to have a
picture by his hand, leaving him the choice of
subject. As Raphael had chosen St. George as
the fittest subject for the King of England, he now,
with equal propriety and taste, chose St. Michael,
the patron saint of the most celebrated military
order in France, as likely to be the most acceptable
subject for the French king, and represented the
archangel as victorious over the Spirit of Evil.
The figures are as large as life. St. Michael,
beaming with angelic beauty and. power, stands
with one foot on the Evil One, and raises his lance
to thrust him down to the deep. Satan is so repre-
sented that very little of his hideous and prostrate
form is visible, the grand victorious spirit filling
the whole canvas and the eye of the spectator.
The king expressed his satisfaction in a right royal
and graceful fashion, and rewarded the artist muni-
ficently. Raphael, considering himself overpaid,
and not to be outdone in generosity, sent to the
king his famous Holy Family (called The large
Holy Family, because the figures are life-size), in
which the infant Christ is seen in act to spring
from the cradle into his mother’s arms, while
angels scatter flowers from above. Engravings
and copies without number exist of this famous
picture : the original is in the gallery of the
Louvre. Raphael sent also his St. Margaret over-